


My favorite kind of trouble

by keysburg



Series: Agent Carter S2 [12]
Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: Coworkers - Freeform, Dinner, Double Dating, Evil Plans, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Gen, New enemies, Poison, an agent's job is never done, interruptions, old enemies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 14:07:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7318270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keysburg/pseuds/keysburg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes getting the most out of your employees means doing things you don't want to do.  Daniel tries to make the best of dinner with his friends and coworkers... until something unexpected happens.</p><p>AKA the Peggysous/Samberts double-dating fic I've been threatening to write forever.</p><p> </p><p>  <img/></p>
            </blockquote>





	My favorite kind of trouble

Peggy was a little early when she arrived to meet him at the house. Daniel let her in, admiring the dress she was wearing. He hadn’t seen this one before, its deep red neckline somewhat less conservative than those she usually wore to the office. She saw him looking and smiled as she leaned in to kiss him hello. It didn’t take long before they were clutching at each other, and he had to force himself to break the kiss. 

“Too bad we have plans,” she murmured. “Otherwise we could stay in.” Her hands squeezed his backside and he swallowed. This was why they had yet to make it out of the house on any of the dates he had planned. Not that their jobs--and the whole mess with Jack--had allowed for many attempts. It had been easy, their partnership at work sliding into moments stolen for little more than sex and sleep. 

Not that it was easy to untangle a multi-national wartime conspiracy with your new girlfriend.  
They were due for a break and Daniel had a good excuse to get them out of the house. He was going to use it. 

“I would like that, but I made a promise. Besides, we deserve a night out. I just need another moment.” He went back to his bedroom to collect his tie and hat.

“And how, exactly, did you get Rose to agree to this?” Peggy asked when he returned. 

“It’s not romantic, not really. Just a group dinner with coworkers,” Daniel said. “Samberly just wants to feel included.” Peggy raised an eyebrow, and he sighed. “I told her she could have a month of weekends off. Said I’d cover them myself, if need be.” 

Daniel’s tie was being stubborn and he used that as an excuse not to look at her. He was a little abashed at having to rope both Rose and Peggy into this to make Samberly happy. Keeping the doctor productive had turned into a full time job. He wanted missions, training, and always more rare and expensive materials for his inventions. Dinner would be less disastrous to his wallet than Samberly's impact to the branch budget. 

“Not only did you invite Rose and Dr. Samberly on our date night, but you’re telling me our future weekends are also compromised?” She sounded more amused than anything. 

“We do have a new girl about to finish cover agent training,” he said. “Should be fine.” 

“Yes, what could go wrong with that? If you get stuck in the office, don’t expect me to keep you company,” she said. 

“You’ll probably be there anyway,” he teased. It must have been the wrong thing to say, because Peggy stiffened. “Would you like to drive, or shall I?”

“I borrowed Howard’s leisure car. I believe it’s more roomy than yours,” she said. 

“Among its other features,” he said. She smiled at his dry tone.

* * *

He insisted on going up to collect Rose from her apartment. She answered wearing a deep pink dress that set off her tan and picked up an enormous purse before locking the door behind her. 

Daniel went to slip in the back of the car but was outmaneuvered. Rose settled in the backseat first, raising her eyebrows at him, so he just closed her door and sat in the front. 

“Rose, you look lovely,” Peggy said.

“Thanks, Peg. I think half the reason I said yes is so I’d finally have a reason to wear my new dress. It certainly wasn’t for the restaurant Chief Sousa picked out,” she teased. Daniel sighed. He had suggested several nicer restaurants, all vetoed by Dr. Samberly. _I’m not made of money,_ he said. They ended up settling on a simpler and rather out-of-the-way place, but he happened to know it had great cheesecake. He was looking forward to watching Peggy savor a strawberry-topped slice--assuming everyone survived until dessert.

It was impossible to miss Samberly standing by the restaurant door, as tall as he was. It didn’t help that he was fidgeting with a small box. He was also wearing what appeared to be a new suit in a deep navy with a garish red and orange tie. 

“L-ladies, so nice to see you nice,” he said as they approached. “I mean, it’s good to see you, and you both look very nice. I brought--” he broke off trying to speak and just held out the open box to them. 

“Oh, how lovely!” Peggy said, dipping her hand inside and retrieving a corsage made of deep red roses. She slid it onto Rose’s wrist.

“They’re beautiful. Thank you, Aloysius,” Rose said as Peggy slipped on a second, comprised of light pink carnations. Peggy pushed herself up on her toes to kiss him on the cheek, which made Samberly blush and let Rose step back. Daniel felt a prickle of sympathy for the man--he was making an effort. It would probably be fruitless where his intentions for Rose were concerned. Maybe this hadn’t been the best idea. 

It was too late to worry about it, since Samberly was holding the door open for the ladies.

* * *

Drinks had arrived and orders had been placed. Daniel didn’t remember this place being so dim or romantically lit, probably because he had only been in for lunch. He might end up owing Rose another weekend off for the oversight. Her eyes were currently glazing over as Samberly droned on about a project he had worked on during his service.

“It wasn’t my fault the General got such a nasty shock from the device, though. He didn’t read the materials I had prepared for him. It’s so hard to foresee all the different types of operator error. I came up with a solution as soon as it happened, too.” Samberly paused to take a sip of his drink and Rose seized the opportunity to excuse herself from the table.

Peggy threw Daniel a glance as Rose dragged her off for the bathroom. It was one of _those_ looks, the kind he always read instinctively. It said _Do something about this._ He smiled as they left.

“Samberly, why don’t you ask Rose about surfing or something,” he suggested casually.

“Oh! Am I _boring_ you, Chief Sousa?” They had only been there about twenty minutes, but that was probably a record amount of time to spend with Samberly before he said something smart. 

“You’re boring everyone, but that’s not the point. You’re making everything about you. You always make everything about you. Women like it when you make it about _them_ , Samberly.”

“Is that what you did with Agent Carter?” 

“I wasn’t ever trying to--how do you even go about impressing a woman that--”

“Knew Captain America?” Samberly said. Daniel willed himself not to grind his teeth. 

“I was going to say, a woman who is so talented at so many things.” He sighed. Daniel did not want to talk about this. “If you heard about Captain America, you probably heard I carried a torch for Peggy back in New York.”

“You did?” Samberly was paying attention now. 

“Yeah, for a long time--but it wasn’t about _my_ feelings, or not just about my feelings. This is probably the last place I thought I’d be sitting right now, but I didn’t _convince_ her. I just got lucky enough that she started to love me back, once we got to know each other.”

“That doesn’t really help me with the _how,_ Chief.” Samberly was all about the how. 

“You have to ask questions, Samberly. And pay attention. People think you’re interesting when you’re interested in them. As a bonus, it will help with your spycraft. Here they come back from the ladies’--you can tell a lot about mood if you focus. So tell me, how do they look?”

“They look… upset.”

He wasn’t wrong. They weren’t moving hurriedly--not exactly--but there was a tension in both women. There must be trouble.

It shouldn’t be a surprise. Daniel wondered if they were ever going to catch a break. It was one thing to choose to work in dangerous and challenging field; it was another entirely to never have a moment of peace.

Peggy and Rose both sat down but any discussion was halted when the appetizers appeared. Samberly was either ignoring his advice or still trying to figure out how to apply it; he tucked directly into his turtle soup. Meanwhile Rose started calmly started on her shrimp cocktail and Peggy sliced into her prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe. Peggy spared him a glance, and Daniel repressed a sigh before picking up his spoon.

The French onion soup here was pretty good. It was impossible to enjoy on tenterhooks.

After a minute, Rose smiled at Samberly.

“Do not panic and keep eating please, Aloysius, no matter what we say next. Do not look around.” She bit into another shrimp with apparent relish. Peggy bent her head toward her plate. 

“We’ve caught a lucky break. Dottie Underwood is here, at Daniel’s five o’clock,” Peggy murmured into her plate.” Samberly dropped his spoon with a clatter, but Rose reached for his hand and squeezed it, causing him to look at her instead of up at Underwood. “She’s dining with Hugh Jones of all people. I do not believe she spotted me,” Peggy continued. “Her back is to us, and she’s not looking around.”

Only Peggy would consider the arrival of a wanted assassin at supper to be _lucky_. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, and Daniel took a deep breath. He gave a little thanks it was so dark in the restaurant. 

“What’s the play?” Daniel asked, forcing a smile before taking another bite of soup. 

“We can’t move on Dottie here, there’s too many innocent people,” Peggy said. “She wouldn’t hesitate to use them against us, take someone hostage.”

“Maybe we could warn Jones some way? I could pass him a message while you call for backup,” Rose suggested. Samberly cleared his throat.

“I have the memory inhibitor on me, if you think that would help, Agent Carter,” he said. Daniel’s train of thought skidded to a halt as they all turned to look aghast at Samberly.

“You brought the memory inhibitor… on a _date_?” Daniel asked in disbelief. 

“That is so inappropriate, Aloysius--even though this is _not_ a date,” Rose hissed. Samberly flushed and looked down at his questionable soup, where his spoon lay mostly submerged.

“It’s too risky,” Peggy said thoughtfully. “Dottie is too skilled to sneak up on, and if she caught on before the device could be triggered, we’re back to innocent people drawn into the conflict. I can act as bait. I’m reasonably sure she’d chase me.” 

“What if she knows we’re here?” Samberly asked, panic creeping into his voice. “She’s probably _trying_ to instigate some sort of rash action. We should sneak out--it’s the only thing she won’t expect.”

“That’s not really an option. If she is here for us, she’d just find us again,” Daniel said. “It’s a good observation--she might be trying to wind us up. Or you, specifically, Peggy. The most rational, safest thing to do is wait, and follow her when she leaves.”

“I don’t like the idea of leaving her with Hugh Jones any longer than necessary,” Peggy said. “He could be in danger--or they could be up to something.”

“So what we need is an innocuous distraction, one that will encourage her to move for an exit, away from others,” Rose said. “She knows both of you, so that leaves me or Dr. Samberly.”

“Both of you,” Peggy and Daniel said in unison. “There’s safety in numbers,” Daniel continued. “I just have no idea what you would say to get her outside.”

“Jones is the key,” Peggy said. “His business interests mean an important call wouldn’t seem suspicious. He’d have to answer no matter what kind of date he has. If we intercept him and he’s gone long enough, Dottie will probably follow after him.”

“Or run,” Rose said.

“Sounds okay to me,” Samberly interjected. 

“We probably won’t get another opportunity like this,” Peggy said. “I want her in custody.”

“Underwood is curious--and insane, but playful,” Daniel said. “I think she’s more likely to follow. I can pretend to head for the bathroom and duck into the kitchen to call for backup to cover the front, though.”

“I can sweep Jones into the alley out back when he tries to answer his call.” Peggy said. “You and I can wait for Dottie there.”

“What am I doing exactly?” Samberly asked.

“You’re going to cover Rose when she takes the message to Jones. Watch, and if anything goes wrong, _go for help_. Do not engage with Underwood,” Daniel ordered.

* * *

Daniel had a long wait behind the restaurant before Peggy joined him. The SSR would need time to form a net around the restaurant. Timing their departures from the table was important to avoid making a scene and tipping off Underwood. The alley was very narrow and made a rather excellent place for an ambush. The restaurant’s dumpster blocked the way to the right, making it even tighter. It would be perfect if it didn’t also stink of garbage in the heat.

It seemed an eternity before Jones came stumbling out the door. Peggy followed, her weapon trained on him.

“I’m guessing Mr. Jones doesn’t believe he’s in danger from Underwood,” Daniel said, training his own gun on the man. Peggy took the opportunity to produce handcuffs from her purse and secure Jones’ hands behind his back. 

“When I asked him if he knew who his dinner companion was, he told me he wasn’t a fool,” Peggy replied.

“I haven’t done anything wrong,” Hugh said. “This is unlawful detainment, and you will be hearing from my lawyers, Agent.” 

“Aiding and abetting a wanted Russian spy _is_ a crime, Mr. Jones,” Peggy said. “You’re currently a suspect.”

“You’ll have to prove that I was both helping her and that I knew her status, Agent. Finding us both in the same public establishment proves nothing. My lawyers--” 

“In that case, it would be in your interest to cooperate and not to interfere with her arrest,” Peggy interrupted. “Unless you have a confession to make, hush.” 

“You’re going to regret this,” Jones said, before falling silent. He leaned back against the opposite wall and met Peggy’s quelling look with calm assurance. 

Peggy and Daniel set up on either side of the door. The wait was tense, with enough time for Daniel to wonder if they should have stayed in for the evening after all. A soft noise came from the other side of the door and his adrenaline spiked. He looked at Peggy, her eyes sparkling in excitement as they both lifted their firearms.

_Who am I kidding? There’s no place I’d rather be._

Dottie strolled into the alley, clearly expecting them, her own gun raised.

“Hey Peggy!” She sounded delighted. “Fancy meeting you here! And you’ve already got Hugh in cuffs. You do work quickly.”

“Dottie Underwood, you are under arrest. Put your hands on your head,” Peggy said.

“It’s not me the SSR needs to worry about right now. You need to watch Hugh, Peggy. He’s really got it out for you. Would you _believe_ he was trying to hire me to take out some petty revenge? He doesn’t know what’s between you and I is _much_ more important than a little money. I took it off his hands anyway, of course.” While she spoke, Dottie kept her gun on Peggy as she edged between them, her back to Daniel.

“You need to stop moving, Underwood. Right now,” Daniel said. Dottie threw him a contemptuous look over her shoulder before turning back Peggy. 

“You threw over Jason already, huh? And you gave up a _doctor_ for this one? He’s cute and all, but are you sure he can keep up with you? Besides, the ears are quite unfortunate.” Dottie said. She took another step, turning and putting herself between Peggy and Hugh. 

Her insults were pretty weak to him, since Daniel had heard it all. But they weren’t for _him_ , and whatever their intended effect, something rose in Peggy’s eyes and she shifted her grip on her weapon. He had to get this situation under control.

“I was quick enough to evade you, Underwood, and catch you once too. Now put down the weapon and come quietly, before we shoot you,” Daniel said. 

“Oh, but you had that fancy net-gun when you caught me, _Chief_. That’s cheating. At least the blond one managed to sneak up on me, and wasn’t afraid to break his hand on my face. How’s he doing, anyway?” She smiled like she knew already.

“Do you know something about what happened to Jack Thompson, Dottie? If you do, we might be willing to work out a deal,” Peggy said. 

“But Peggy, I’m not in custody yet. You’ve got no leverage. Besides, I’m not interested in deportation. Capitalism is providing me with such wonderful opportunities!” Her free hand reached out and stroked Hugh’s cravat. He glared at her, but didn’t move. 

“Daniel, I’m seriously considering just shooting her,” Peggy said.

“I’m not sure it would be a bad idea, to be honest,” he said. Dottie rolled her eyes.

“You’re not going to shoot me. I know all _sorts_ of things, and you won’t know what they are if you kill me.” Her free hand dropped from Hugh and into her jacket pocket, extracting a syringe.

It was empty. A scream came from inside the restaurant--one they had heard before. 

“The most important piece of information I have right now is what was in this syringe. I stuck it in your tall, awkward friend. I was aiming for that sassy redhead who lured away my date, but he got in the way. If I don’t tell you how to treat him, he will die.” She paused, letting that sink in. 

“Anyway, it’s been _so_ fun catching up, but I’m going to leave now. Don’t try to stop me, and the SSR will get an anonymous call to help you save your friend. Have a great night!” Dottie backed slowly out of the alley, turning to run when she got to the street.

“Aloysius,” Peggy said.

“Radio,” Daniel replied. Peggy’s eyes widened and she took off at a sprint. Stark’s car was ridiculous but at least it had a CB radio among its gadgets. Daniel grabbed Jones’ arm and started to drag him into the restaurant. 

“Let me go now, and I won’t sue for this misappropriation of justice,” Jones insisted, twisting away from Daniel’s grip.

“You were just accused of trying to kill a federal agent, Mr. Jones,” Daniel said, still trying to drag him.

“By a psychotic Soviet assassin who _is getting away_. No judge will consider that probable cause to hold me.”

He had a point. Daniel sighed and shook out his keys. 

“I’m glad you at least can see reason. You tell your agent something from me though. _Nobody steals from me_ ,” Jones said.

“That sounds like a threat.” 

“Merely a fact, Chief. You have a good night.”

* * *

Samberly lay on the floor, moaning. Rose knelt at his side, trying to take his pulse. 

“Oh, it hurts, it hurts! Rose, if I die tonight, I want you to know--”

“Aloysius, please, just take a deep breath and tell me what hurts,” Rose said calmly. 

“Um, well, it hurts where she injected me in the _stomach_ with the deadly _poison_!” 

“Symptoms?” Daniel asked, kneeling next to them.

“I don’t know because he won’t hold still and let me look at him. Get his shirt open,” she said. “Pale, sweating, rapid heartbeat. Those could be from a lot of poisons--or just from panic. She might have injected him with water, for all we know.”

Daniel tried not to think about how strange it was to be undressing Samberly as he stripped off his tie and unbuttoned his shirt. 

“Samberly, you need to calm down,” he said.

“Deep breaths,” Rose added. “We’re here, and we’re going to take care of you.” Samberly finally stopped thrashing enough for Daniel to get his undershirt up. The injection site was invisible, but--

“Does his stomach look swollen to you?” he asked Rose.

Peggy interrupted the reply. 

“I didn’t make it on the radio in time. Hartley’s been winged, but he’s on his way to the hospital and should be fine. Dottie is gone. I pulled up the car to the door. We should get him out of here.”

It was a good thing they had the bigger car after all. Peggy headed for the SSR office, making it in record time. They barely had Samberly settled on a cot in the lab when the call came in. Peggy answered, face white when she hung up. 

“She said ‘Just a little rat poison. The fast acting kind.’ That’s it.”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Samberly said. “I thought it was going to be something worse. Subcutaneous vitamin K and top me up with a pint or two of blood. I’m AB positive, I’ll take any--” His eyes rolled back in his head as he passed out.

“Shock?” Daniel asked Jerry, who had moved to check his pulse. 

“Just overexcitement, I think,” Jerry said. “Let me check his blood pressure and start the treatment and I’ll get back to you. Give me some room, please.” 

“I don’t know about leaving him in with Jerry,” Rose said when they had stepped into the bullpen. “I’d feel better if we took him to the hospital.”

“It’s unlikely the doctors would treat him on the say-so of an assassin at large,” Peggy said. “It would be worse for him if we had to wait for tests. If they have a test for this.” 

“We’ll take him if he gets worse, Rose. Are _you_ okay? Dottie said that syringe had your name on it,” Daniel said. Her eyes filled with tears.

“I saw it coming. I went to duck, and then Aloysius just _jumped_ in front of me. That ridiculous, stupid, meddlesome--”

“ _Brave_ man,” Peggy said, hugging her. “If it makes you feel better, go keep an eye on Jerry.” 

“That’s not a very nice thing to do to Jerry,” Daniel observed once the lab door closed.

“Dr. Samberly will appreciate it when he wakes up, though,” she said. “What has happened to Hugh Jones?”

He told her.

“So I’ve decided, the adventure definitely follows you,” Daniel said with a smile. Peggy scowled.

“Howard suggested I make people want me dead. If I keep earning enemies at this rate, odds will be in their favor,” she said. 

“Not if we put them all behind bars. We can do it.” She sighed.

“Still, it’s more trouble than you signed up for, with me. I don’t care if I never finish another restaurant meal again, but that’s not something I can ask of others. I should understand if you--” 

He didn’t want to hear the rest of that. Fortunately, his lips were very effective at preventing her from continuing. She kissed him back, but seemed almost tentative, which was unusual for Peggy. 

“I was getting in over my head long before you showed up,” he said, knocking on his crutch. “I wouldn’t work here if I couldn’t handle it--and as it turns out, you’re my favorite kind of trouble.”

* * *

Daniel ended up going and picking up dinner for everyone. Then he settled in to return urgent phone calls and start the paperwork this disaster required. Peggy helped gamely, but when she started to yawn he asked her to get a ride back to Stark’s.

“I want to stay with you,” she said. Peggy yawned again, so wide her jaw cracked. “Ow.”

“One of us needs to be functional tomorrow,” he said. “Since I’m Chief, I’ve decided it’s going to be you.” 

“Fine,” she said, glancing in the direction of the lab. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you’re developing a soft spot for Dr. Samberly. It’s rather becoming.” 

Daniel waited until Jerry reported that Samberly was stable. He waited until Rose said whatever she needed to say, and put her in a taxi home himself. He waited for someone to take Samberly's official statement, and he read it before heading into the lab.

“Hey, Chief Sousa. You’re still here? It’s almost dawn,” Samberly said, shifting on the cot. 

“A chief’s work is never done, Dr. Samberly. While you’re still awake, I just had a couple questions for you.”

“Oh, yeah?” He licked his lips nervously.

“Yep. It says here in your official statement that you denied my direct orders to go for help. Instead you rushed into a confrontation, and that’s how you were poisoned. Is this correct?”

“It would be cruel to fire me while I lay on this terrible cot, Chief. You wouldn’t do that to me, would you?”

“Just answer the question, please.” 

“Yes, that is my statement.” He sighed. “Go ahead, and do your worst.”

“Would you do it again, Aloysius?”

“What?” 

“Would. You. Do. It. Again?”

“Rose--Agent Roberts was in trouble. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Daniel replied.

“Because I’ve finally given you a real reason to fire me?” Samberly asked, confused.

“I’m not going to fire you, Aloysius. You acted against orders and your situational judgement is still lacking--but tonight you showed you have the need to act. That’s what makes a hero. I think we can make a real agent out of you yet. You just need more training; practicing how to react during conflict can help keep you from panicking.”

“That--that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, Chief. You’re not going to forget it once you get some sleep, are you?”

“Of course, now I know you have it in you to be great, I’m going to expect a lot more from you.” 

“You know what, Chief Sousa? I think I’m going to take my new skills and work on making some new friends--outside the SSR.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to lillianfromaccounting for the beta and paeonia for discussions about Dottie, Hugh Jones, and appetizers of the 1940s.
> 
>  [Suggested Reading Order for my canon compliant post S2 fics](http://katiekeysburg.tumblr.com/post/162241330814/ever-wonder-what-order-my-post-season-2-agent)


End file.
